Letter to the editor: Common sense is needed in state job licensing

I have been very interested in the thorough coverage the Register has given to the licensing issues and the seemingly unnecessary course work involved in preparing people for certain occupations in Iowa. It reminds me of my efforts in the 1980s to obtain a school counseling endorsement when I was attempting to move from a position in community mental health to a school counseling.

I already had an M.A. degree in counseling psychology, as well as an Iowa teaching certificate. Working as a counselor at our county mental health center, I had been providing consultation to my local school district dealing with disruptive students. It should have been an easy move. However, in order to be hired as a "school counselor," I attempted to determine from the Department of Education what course work I would need to gain this endorsement.

They could not tell me. They said I had to enroll in an approved program at one of the state or private universities and fulfill that program's course work. Each university I contacted had a different set of required classes, as well as a different viewpoint as to how my previous degree would or would not fulfill their requirements.

Once enrolled in one university, I found it was impossible to switch to another university because the course work would be different in that university's program. I initially met with a faculty member at one of the state universities and was told that I would need nine graduate hours to complete their requirements. So I dedicated my next summer, driving over an hour one way from Grinnell to this university in order to complete the requirements.

Unfortunately, as soon as I completed the three courses, the faculty met and decided that I needed to add another one not previously discussed.

Before it was all over, I had to take 26 hours of graduate level counseling courses on top of my M.A. degree in counseling and all my years actively employed as a community mental health counselor.

To add insult to injury, there was not a single person on the university's counseling faculty who had ever been a working state-endorsed elementary counselor, the position for which I was training. In most of my classes, I had more experience in school counseling as a consultant from the mental health center than the professor had ever had.

I can honestly say that there was not one new piece of information in all 26 hours of required course work that was helpful to me in my practice as a school counselor. It was expensive and very time-consuming, but I had to do it to get the endorsement from the Department of Education.

I did it all, and was a school counselor for 25 wonderful years. I am retired now, but I cringe when I think of hair braiders and interior decorators going through this sort of needless hassle in order to earn a license to make a living.

What we need is some common sense from the state of Iowa, as well as the Department of Education.

- Karen Phillips, Grinnell

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Letter to the editor: Common sense is needed in state job licensing

I have been very interested in the thorough coverage the Register has given to the licensing issues and the seemingly unnecessary course work involved in preparing people for certain occupations in